Yang Zhu, Ph.D
Make It Bloom: Plant Development & Programming for BioData
University of Pennsylvania
yaz@sas.upenn.edu
Highlights
Plants monitor seasonal cues to optimize reproductive success by tuning onset of reproduction and inflorescence architecture via the trio TFL1, FT and LFY. We identified FT-dependent 604 targets of FD-TFL1. Among them, the master regulator of floral fate LFY is under dual opposite regulation by TFL1 and FT. Our data provide mechanistic insight into how TFL1-FD sculpt inflorescence architecture, a trait important for reproductive success, plant architecture and yield.
Phytohormones, sugars, and key regulatory genes control bud outgrowth. Different types of phyto- hormones (auxin, cytokinin, strigolactone, and abscisic acid) as well as sugars are key endogenous determinants of bud outgrowth. The complex interplay among those regulatory pathways are summarized.
Photoperiodic control of CO activates expression of NaKR1 and FT in companion cells (CCs) of the vasculature. FTIP1 mediates the transport of FT protein from CCs to SEs, whereas NaKR1 is required for long-distance movement of FT from leaves to the SAM through SEs.
Pluripotency gene STM downregulation is important for primordium founder fate. The ‘repressive’ class-B Auxin Response Factors (ARFs) ETTIN and ARF4 cooperate with the ‘activating’ class-A ARF MONOPTEROS to silence STM together with the histone deacetylase HDA19 through a YABBY/ARF co-repressor complex.
Research Experience
Flower onset and chromatin remodeling
Biosynthesis of high-value products in an industrially promising red oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides by consolidated bioprocessing
Studies on flowering time regulation in the model plants Arabidopsis and rice by advanced molecular and genetic methods
Improvement of the yield and quality of the vegetable oil in Brassica napus (rapeseed) via the control of plant hormones
Publications
Yang Zhu, Samantha Klasfeld, Cheol Woong Jeong, Run Jin, Koji Goto, Nobutoshi Yamaguchi & Doris Wagner
Nature Communications. 2020
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18782-1
Impact factor: 11.8
Plants monitor seasonal cues to optimize reproductive success by tuning onset of reproduction and inflorescence architecture. TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and their orthologs antagonistically regulate these life history traits, yet their mechanism of action, antagonism and targets remain poorly understood. Here, we show that TFL1 is recruited to thousands of loci by the bZIP transcription factor FD. We identify the master regulator of floral fate, LEAFY (LFY) as a target under dual opposite regulation by TFL1 and FT and uncover a pivotal role of FT in promoting flower fate via LFY upregulation. We provide evidence that the antagonism between FT and TFL1 relies on competition for chromatin-bound FD at shared target loci. Direct TFL1-FD regulated target genes identify this complex as a hub for repressing both master regulators of reproductive development and endogenous signalling pathways. Our data provide mechanistic insight into how TFL1-FD sculpt inflorescence architecture, a trait important for reproductive success, plant architecture and yield.
Yang Zhu and Doris Wagner
Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology 2019 Jul 15. pii: a034652
doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a034652
Impact factor: 9.1
The above-ground plant body in different plant species can have very distinct forms or architectures that arise by recurrent redeployment of a finite set of building blocks—leaves with axillary meristems, stems or branches, and flowers. The unique architectures of plant inflorescences in different plant families and species, on which this review focuses, determine the reproductive success and yield of wild and cultivated plants. Major contributors to the inflorescence architecture are the activity and developmental trajectories adopted by axillary meristems, which determine the degree of branching and the number of flowers formed. Recent advances in genetic and molecular analyses in diverse flowering plants have uncov- ered both common regulatory principles and unique players and/or regulatory interactions that underlie inflorescence architecture. Modulating activity of these regulators has already led to yield increases in the field. Additional insight into the underlying regulatory interactions and principles will not only uncover how their rewiring resulted in altered plant form, but will also enhance efforts at optimizing plant architecture in desirable ways in crop species.
Yuhee Chung, Yang Zhu, Miin-Feng Wu, Sara Simonini, Andre Kuhn, Alma Armenta-Medina, Run Jin, Lars Østergaard, C Stewart Gillmor, Doris Wagner.
Nature communications 10, 886 (2019)
doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08861-3
Impact factor: 11.8
Pluripotency gene STM downregulation is important for primordium founder fate. The ‘repressive’ class-B Auxin Response Factors (ARFs) ETTIN and ARF4 cooperate with the ‘activating’ class-A ARF MONOPTEROS to silence STM together with the histone deacetylase HDA19 through a YABBY/ARF co-repressor complex.
Yang Zhu, Lu Liu, Lisha Shen, Hao Yu
Nat Plants. 2016 May 27;2(6):16075.
DOI: 10.1038/nplants.2016.75.
Impact factor: 13.3
A novel regulator NaKR1 acts as a key transportation chaperone of florigen FT in the model plant Arabidopsis. This work was highly recommended by F1000 plant biology faculty Prof. Ilha Lee.
Lu Liu, Yang Zhu, Lisha Shen, Hao Yu
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2013 Oct;16(5):607-13.
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2013.06.001.
Impact factor: 9.4
This review paper summarizes the recent advances in understanding florigen transport and discusses the proven and potential regulators required for this process in various plant species.
Mingxun Chen, Xue Du, Yang Zhu, Zhong Wang, Shuijin Hua, Zhilan Li, Wanli Guo, Guoping Zhang, Jinrong Peng, Lixi Jiang
Plant Cell Environ. 2012 Dec;35(12):2155-69.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3040.2012.02546.x.
Impact factor: 6.9
Seed Fatty Acid Reducer reduces seed fatty acid storage and acts downstream of the gibberellin signalling pathway in Arabidopsis seeds.
Conferences
Stanford University, USA, 2020
This talk was about how the intrinsically disordered flowering time member FD regulates the onset of flowering in Arabidopsis through competitive binding the LFY locus.
USA, 2020
We were excited to show our comprehensive study on the trio TFL1, FT and LFY in regulation of inflorescence architecture.
UPenn Epigenetics Institute, USA, 2019
Environmental reprograming of plant architecture
China, 2015
Oral Presentation
Frontiers of Plant Biology:
Epigenetics & Development
Singapore, 2014
Oral Presentation, First Prize
An annual congress organised by National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia, and Chulalongkorn University (CU), Thailand
Singapore, 2016
A biannual conference organised by the BioEnergy Society of Singapore (BESS) focusing on Sustainable Manufacturing for Food, Fuels and Chemicals
Singapore, 2016
A series of symposiums that bring together world-leading experts in Synthetic Biology and Metabolic Engineering, provide a platform for sharing state-of-the-art developments.
Singapore, 2011
This symposium focused on the cell cycle, development, and related fields of basic biology by researchers from Japan, Singapore, and Germany for promoting an international exchange of scientific ideas unhampered by boundaries of nation or field.
Network
National University of Singapore,
Provost’s Chair Professor and Head of Department ;
Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory,
Temasek Senior Investigator,
Singapore
Principal Investigator
Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shanghai, China
Principal Investigator
South China Botanical Garden,
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Guangzhou, China
Principal Investigator
Biotechnology Research Institute,
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Beijing, China
Principal Investigator,
Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Beijing, China
Principal Investigator,
Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Changchun, China
Principal Investigator,
Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Beijing, China
Lifestyle
Our Little Bun
2020 Autumn
BASKETBALL IS AWESOME. PLAY!
2020 Summer
Finishers of Philly Marathon
2019 Winter
Family time
2018 Summer
Prof. Doris Wagner lab
2018 Spring
@ MET, NYC
2017 Spring
Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore
Dec 2016
Dr. Lianghui Ji's group outing
July 2016
Commencement celebration
with my supervisor Prof. Hao Yu
July 2016
Badminton tournament team of
ZJU Alumni Association Singapore
May 2016
Running full marathon for SG50
Dec 2015
Visit of the University of Hong Kong
Nov 2015
Contact
Copyright 2020